This invention relates to an optical assembly, and is concerned with the mounting of terminations of optical fibres in a manner which permits their visual inspection. Optical fibres are used for the transmission of data and telecommunications and the like, and a large number of individual optical fibres are required to be terminated in equipment associated with a switch or other node at which the optical information is to be processed, eg by way of routing to its destination, combining with other information in a multiplex fashion or by switching information from one optical carrier wavelength to another.
The optical connections are housed within an enclosure, and in practice many such optical connections may need to be housed within a common enclosure. In the event of a fault in the optical system, or for regular maintenance, it is highly desirable to locate the optical connections in a manner which facilitates their inspection and checking. This is difficult if the optical connections are mounted within an equipment enclosure, such as a large cabinet or rack.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved optical assembly.
According to this invention an optical assembly includes a plurality of optical connectors mounted in a fixed physical relationship with each other; a housing within which the connectors are normally housed and from which they can be withdrawn to permit inspection; a plurality of optical fibres each terminating at a respective one of the optical connectors; and a plurality of movable guides which determine a plurality of optical paths, each of the same path length, for the optical fibres, the guides being of fixed spacing and orientation relative to each other and being movable both with respect to said connectors and said housing so as to maintain said path length substantially constant as the connectors are withdrawn from said housing.
Preferably the plurality of movable guides are movable along a curved line as the connectors are withdrawn from said housing, the line being curved so as to maintain said path length substantially constant.
Preferably again the line is curved so as to approximate an arc of a parabola. Over a sufficiently short arc of a parabola having a shallow curvature, the arc approximates to that of a circle. In practice, an arc of constant radius is satisfactory provided that the length of the arc is short in relation to the radius.